Birds

A sampling of shots of our feathered friends.

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Searching for Food<br />
Adult roseate spoonbills foraging in a brackish impoundment at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida.  Nicknamed the “Flame Bird”, and known locally as pink, pinky, or pink curlew, the Roseate Spoonbill is unmistakable and one of North America’s most unusual looking wading birds. Its plumage is truly flamboyant, combining a pink body with carmine red on the wings and tail-coverts with a rich tawny, almost orange, tail. Carotenoid pigments in the plumage are derived from its diet. It is one of 6 species of spoonbills worldwide, the only one found in the New World, and the only spoonbill that has brilliantly colored plumage. It is also the only spoonbill whose head becomes completely un-feathered a<br />
nd colorful as the bird matures.<br />
 Plume-feather hunters beginning in the 1830s decimated historical populations, but disturbance at shared rookeries for the highly prized plumes of egrets probably took the greatest toll on the species. Like all other spoonbills, this species frequents shallow aquatic habitats and feeds by swinging its head and the slightly open “spoon” of its bill in the water from side to side in a semicircular motion. The bill snaps shut when it contacts prey, mainly fish and aquatic invertebrates.

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Searching for Food
Adult roseate spoonbills foraging in a brackish impoundment at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida.  Nicknamed the “Flame Bird”, and known locally as pink, pinky, or pink curlew, the Roseate Spoonbill is unmistakable and one of North America’s most unusual looking wading birds. Its plumage is truly flamboyant, combining a pink body with carmine red on the wings and tail-coverts with a rich tawny, almost orange, tail. Carotenoid pigments in the plumage are derived from its diet. It is one of 6 species of spoonbills worldwide, the only one found in the New World, and the only spoonbill that has brilliantly colored plumage. It is also the only spoonbill whose head becomes completely un-feathered a
nd colorful as the bird matures.
 Plume-feather hunters beginning in the 1830s decimated historical populations, but disturbance at shared rookeries for the highly prized plumes of egrets probably took the greatest toll on the species. Like all other spoonbills, this species frequents shallow aquatic habitats and feeds by swinging its head and the slightly open “spoon” of its bill in the water from side to side in a semicircular motion. The bill snaps shut when it contacts prey, mainly fish and aquatic invertebrates.

Black Point Wildlife Drive Florida Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Roseate Spoonbill Titusville